Tuesday, May 22, 2012

She had "a long cardiac history" from the orphanage. At her first appointment in the U.S., they only found a small PDA. That small PDA has closed and she is released from cardiology. Praise the Lord for His healing hand and two less ology appointments for this mama to manage a year!

Our sweet little Hope will be having a frenulectomy this week. Would you pray for her? It is not a huge, deal or huge surgery. Grace and Faith have both had the prodedure and they did great with it and Noah will have to have his done too. It is funny that every one of our biological kids have tied tongues. A paternal and maternal grandparent both had tied tongues ... anyway ... I know Hopie will do great too, but this mama covets your prayers anyway.

Monday, May 21, 2012

We do not know the answer to this question. Hearing with a CI is a learning process. After he has been implanted for about a year, we will know what his level of hearing is. He will go through many mapping sessions that will help his brain learn to hear and to process sounds.

Wednesday, May 16, 2012

In November, Seth had an Auditory Brainstem Response test, also known as an ABR. His results showed no response at 105 decibles, which was the limit on the testing equipment. It is likely that his hearing loss is more profound than 105 decibels. We were told if he was standing beside a jet plane, he would not hear it. You can see in the audiogram below, a jet it plotted at about 120 decibels.

His hearing loss is bilateral, meaning both ears. He is wearing bilateral, in the ear, hearing aids. His testing, with hearing aids, shows reaction to sound at 80-90 decibels. This is still considered prodound deafness.

At what point do you make the decision to go with an implant rather than hearing aids.
Since, Seth's degree of deafness is considered profound, even with high powered hearing aids, cochlear implants become an option to help him hear.

How invasive will the
procedure be, what about recovery?
This answer is taken from our surgeons website.

The procedure is an outpatient surgery that takes about an hour and a
half. It is performed under general anesthesia. The surgery is performed through
an incision behind the ear. The surgery consists of removing part of the mastoid
bone and placing the cochlear implant.

Will the implant last his entire life, can it
be upgraded without replacement?
Likely, the implant will need to be replaced at some point. No one knows for sure. CI in children were started in the late 80's. Some of those children are now having replacement CIs. Yes, they are designed to allow upgrades. They are also designed for easy removal of the magnet if there is a need for the child to have an MRI.

How will it affect any hearing that he has now,
like when you wear glasses your natural eyesight gets a little worse as you
depend on the lenses.
Typically, any hearing the child has will be lost from the implant. Seth will only have one ear implanted to start.

For a brief explination, this video talks a bit about the procedure and highlights Seth's surgeon.

Thanks for answering any of these questions, I'm really interested in learning more.
You are welcome and thanks for asking!

We selected the Neptune™ processor. We liked this device because it is waterproof, has a good impact resistance rating and has many wearing option. The controls are removable, so there is no way for the setting to be changed without it happening purposefully.

We were able to select many wearing options. We selected the arm band, a lanyard, and a harness. It also comes with a pouch to put the processor in. The pouch can be used in conjunction with all three wearing options selected above. There is also a clip, that can easily clip to the back of his shirt.

There is also an option for a FM Device that would take my voice "directly" to Seth's ear. It is normally used by a public school teacher in a classroom. We will be looking at this option down the road as Seth progresses with the implant.

AB’s iConnectTM accessory provides a cable-free connection to the FM systems most commonly used in schools, such as Phonak's Dynamic FM. Designed to easily snap into place, it won’t fall off the ear or interfere with head movements.

With the iConnect, your child can listen comfortably and naturally, concentrating on the important lessons being taught in the classroom instead of fussing with cables or wires or continually repositioning their equipment.

Q & A Time ....

Do you have questions about Seth's upcoming cochlear implant? If so, please leave a comment and I will address them (to the best of my non-bionic ability -hehe) in a future post

I cannot believe my little Faith will be starting Kindergarten. I am going to chronicle her kindy year here.

We started her first project yesterday; a My Father's World Remembrance Quilt. We made a quilt for each of the big kids in their kindy year rather than making the badges that My Father's World recommends. In each unit, a letter, an object and a biblical concept is taught. For example, "S" is the Sun with the biblical concept of Jesus is the light of the world.

The green fabric is for the front of the quilt, the paisley fabric is the back of the quilt and the ribbon will make the squares --- yep, it is a cheater quilt. :)

... And just for fun and because I love the so much, here are the big kids quilts.

Tailgaters

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